"I'm listening."
Masuzu paused briefly, then decided to begin with this sentence: "Yukinoshita-san, you must understand what it's like to be too popular, right?"
"Chased by self-proclaimed 'cool' guys, hated by your own gender for doing nothing, becoming daily gossip and strange stares—everyone's brain flooded with hormones, fools who can't think about anything except who likes whom... Hehe, why don't you all just die? In hell, you can date without hesitation! Strip naked and die together—love slaves, the lot of you!"
"Natsukawa-san, your energy is awfully negative?" Yuu kindly reminded her after Masuzu finished her rant.
"Ah, sorry, I didn't mean to."
Masuzu cleared her throat, hiding her overly dark expression, and returned to her bright smile.
"But since Tenkuji-kun trusts you all so much, I suppose it's fine if my true self shows a little, right?"
"I don't mind." Yukino said, though unconsciously she massaged her temple, closed her eyes, and sighed deeply. "But Tenkuji-kun, the people you associate with... they all have traits just like you."
Yuu glanced at her. "She's your classmate. Don't blame me for all her faults."
Yuigahama tugged on his sleeve, moved her chair closer to his, and whispered, "She's so intense... Does Natsukawa-san have trauma related to love?"
"Don't ask me—I just found out she hates love this much myself."
Yuu glanced at Masuzu, only to be greeted by a flirtatious wink from her.
Seeing this scene, Yuigahama felt as if something she'd long chased had suddenly been claimed by someone else. Without realizing it, she puffed her cheeks. Somehow finding courage, she slid her fingers to his wrist.
"Yuigahama?"
She turned her face away as if nothing had happened. Her ears turned red, but she made no move to pull away.
Feeling the slightly trembling fingers under the table, Yuu didn't push them away. After a soft sigh, he pretended not to notice, returning Masuzu's mischievous gaze.
"The feelings you described—I do understand them." Yukino looked toward Masuzu sitting across from her, as if she'd found a rare kindred spirit. She smiled. "Indeed, rather than being worshipped, it's better to quietly climb to the peak—somewhere no one can see."
Masuzu interrupted. "Sorry, I haven't thought that deeply. Being admired is fine, as long as it doesn't make me sick."
Yukino opened her mouth. "...I see."
"Pffft!"
Yuu burst out laughing, covering his mouth while also gently pulling his hand away from Yuigahama's.
Yukino glared at him. When she turned back to Masuzu, the temperature in her eyes dropped again, and she spoke flatly: "So? Your problem is being too popular?"
"In short, yes. Not only do I get confessions almost every day, but there are boys from other classes and upperclassmen who come to spy on me—like watching a koala. There are even stupid bets about who'll end up dating me. Nothing good ever comes of it."
After a long complaint, Masuzu sighed. "On the contrary, I envy Yukinoshita-san... This month, I've hardly seen anyone confess to you."
Before she could respond, Yuu interrupted, barely holding back laughter: "Because everyone knows she's unapproachable—who'd confess to an ice statue?"
"Tenkuji-kun, if you can't speak properly, please just stay silent or be reborn?"
Though the afternoon sun outside the window was warm, the ice statue still radiated coldness with full force—only after Yuu fell silent did Yukino take a deep breath to calm herself.
"...Natsukawa-san, what that crude, foul-mouthed man said over there is true. Specifically, since the beginning of school, I've made it clear I don't want confessions—I'm not interested in dating. So gradually, I've stepped out of that circle, no longer seen as a target, no longer the subject of gossip."
Ignoring the interruption, Yukino gave advice with utmost seriousness: "You're a transfer student. Since people don't know you, shallow men will naturally try to confess to you. So show a clear attitude of refusal. Never interact ambiguously with anyone. In time, your surroundings will collectively agree not to bother you, and naturally, you'll escape the problem of being too popular."
Masuzu's eyes widened slightly, seemingly surprised. "So you actually gave me real advice—and it even makes sense..."
"In serious matters, I never joke." Proudly smoothing her long hair over her shoulder, Yukino gave a slight smile. "Of course, truth always lies with the right side."
Yuu showed an agreeing expression and immediately clapped. "Clap your hands! Yuigahama, why are you just staring? Clap your hands!"
"Ah? Oh..."
Yuigahama looked confused but followed Yuu's lead, clapping dazedly.
The crisp sound of applause echoed through the classroom.
As a result, Yukino's face, which had been proud and bright a moment ago, returned to its earlier gloomy, icy state.
"...Tenkuji-kun, today you're ten times more annoying than usual."
"I just wanted you to know—the right way isn't always usable." Yuu stopped clapping and looked at Masuzu. "Natsukawa-san, will you follow her advice?"
Masuzu stared at him. For some reason, she felt like Yuu had turned the tables on her.
But as long as her goal was achieved, the process didn't matter. She quickly dismissed the thought and shook her head.
"Though it's good advice, it takes too much time. Besides, I'm not used to dealing with people with a cold face like Yukinoshita-san."
The usual Masuzu was the well-behaved girl in teachers' eyes and the graceful girl in students' eyes. She wasn't entirely different, but she had a huge difference compared to Yukino.
Perhaps because she seemed much more approachable, her popularity among boys was even higher than Yukino's—she'd received dozens of confessions in less than a month.
Now, asking her to imitate Yukino would take time and require changing her entire lifestyle. Too troublesome.
"I don't deal with people with a cold face..."
Yukino frowned, about to defend herself, when Masuzu spoke again.
"Sorry for not telling you earlier—blame that guy over there..." Her voice suddenly dropped lower. She slightly lowered her head, sounding like an experienced senior.
"When the idea of finding a way to prevent future problems came to mind, my action was already complete!"
After saying that, the corner of the girl's lips curled into a smile—she seemed very pleased with her successful insertion of a joke.
But in reality...
Since only Yuu understood what Masuzu meant, the other two stared at her in confusion, and Yuu felt embarrassed for her.
"Are you done acting? What does that even mean?" Yukino asked, frowning in bewilderment.
If she was already done acting, why was she still seeking help from the Service Club?
"Maybe that wasn't quite accurate. When I was almost done with that action, I was called by someone to seek help from the Service Club."
Masuzu finished speaking with a smile.
Everyone followed her gaze—toward Yuu.
"If no one else has a better suggestion you can accept, I'll agree to your request." Yuu nodded, endorsing her words. "And if there is, you don't need to force yourself to do it. Isn't this far better than your previous method?"
Masuzu sighed and honestly lowered her head. "Although I don't want to admit it, you're right... I didn't think things through earlier."
Though her tone was sincere, Yuu could tell Masuzu didn't truly feel regretful—she clearly had no intention of self-reflection.
"What kind of request?" Yuigahama asked hesitantly, a bad feeling creeping in.
On the other hand, Yukino, clearly displeased, slowly took a breath and spoke in a cold tone:
"So, the two of you already agreed on the request's content—just came here to look for better advice, so you came to the Service Club?"
"Exactly, spot on." Facing her sharp gaze, Yuu spoke honestly. "If you can give better advice, of course, this would just be an ordinary request."
"Unfortunately, you couldn't satisfy the client, so I can only solve her problem according to the agreement we already made... Choosing the best option—that's the most correct way, right?"
"..."
Yukino bit her lip until it turned white, clenched her fists on her knees, but couldn't argue.
Rather than the most correct, the client chose the most suitable...
Choosing the method most suitable for herself and ignoring others' sincere but unwanted advice—this was undeniably correct too.
Yuu had closed all paths for rebuttal. And the one deciding all of this wasn't the two of them, but the client—Natsukawa Masuzu.
Yukino could only admit that, if she viewed this request as a competition, she'd already lost to Yuu, who'd brought the judge onto the field.
Losing was losing. It wasn't something worth dwelling on—she wasn't the type who had to succeed at everything. Though she rarely failed, she'd never feared failure.
She just needed to win next time.
Being brave enough to admit mistakes and skilled at drawing conclusions—that was Yukino's intelligent side.
—But she was furious.
Just seeing Yuu's face made her angry. Hearing his lecturing tone made her angry. Being forced to yield with logical reasoning made her angry too!
Though Yukino had told herself not to care about someone like him, feelings of resentment and rage still bubbled like lava, her chest tightening and swelling with irritation.
There was no doubt—Yukino was now extremely angry. Her entire face was icy, her voice frozen.
"...Fine. Then I'll leave it to you."
After saying that, she lowered her head as if too bored to care, and reopened her book.
Though it looked like a sulk, she at least managed to maintain her dignity as Service Club president.
Yuu shrugged. He wasn't particularly proud of achieving his goal either. He turned to Yuigahama.
"The request is simple. She just wants me to be her fake boyfriend to ward off confessions from those guys."
Yuigahama nodded. "I see, that is simple..."
Then she suddenly slammed the table, exclaiming in disbelief: "F-f-f-fake boyfriend?! No way! Absolutely not!"
She was so worked up her lips trembled, stomping her feet anxiously.
Masuzu tilted her head, hiding her laughter, asking with feigned confusion: "Why not? Yuigahama-san?"
"Because... because..." Yuigahama's face flushed with panic as she scrambled for a reason. "Fake can become real! Right, on TV it's always like that—two people accidentally mistaken as a couple end up falling in love..."
Masuzu blinked. "Isn't that good? Tenkuji-kun is a valuable asset. If I hold onto him now, future gains are guaranteed~"
Yuigahama's eyes widened further. "But... didn't you just say you hate love?!"
"I do hate it—that's why I lied."
Masuzu's tone turned cold, her innocent expression vanishing instantly.
She stared at Yuigahama, dark flames flickering in her clear, icy eyes.
"Fake becoming real? Don't joke. Just imagining it makes me want to vomit! If love is so beautiful that fake can become real, then why are there murder cases over love? Why do so many couples marry and immediately divorce? Why are there always children abandoned by their parents?"
"I-I can't generalize..."
"So? Can't generalize—does that mean we should ignore potential harm? Just because fewer people get hurt, should we ignore those who are hurt?"
"..."
After leaving Yuigahama speechless, as if trying to spit out a foreign object from her mouth, Masuzu continued with hatred, disgust, and revulsion:
"Blindly loving each other like fools, making irresponsible promises, wasting time having fun, manipulating people like drugs or religion to make them fall—hah! How ridiculous. What reason do I have to accept garbage like love?"
"Those who want to fall into the pit, go ahead. But I won't. Don't try to force that false beauty on me—it only makes me want to vomit... So don't worry, Yuigahama-san."
Slowly calming her fiery emotions, Masuzu lifted her gaze calmly, her voice as strong as steel.
"Fake is fake. I will never—never, even in death—allow it to become real!"
"..."
The atmosphere seemed to fall silent in response.
As if stunned by that unshakable, determined voice, Yuigahama opened her mouth but couldn't speak. In the end, she could only look at Yuu, as if pleading for help.
"Yuu-kun, something like this..."
"I already said it's a fake boyfriend—why are you so worked up? Don't act like I'm actually going to fall for her."
Yuu casually waved his hand, signaling her to sit. "Besides, I don't intend to date anyone now. Since she made the request, as a respectable member of the Service Club, it's only natural I help—as long as it's within acceptable limits."
After saying that, he turned to the girl near the window.
"You agree, right? Club president."
"...Hmph."
Yukino scoffed with a cold face, making no move to lift her eyes from her book.
"...Then, fine."
Yuigahama quietly stared at Yuu. After a while, she finally managed a helpless, bitter smile, awkwardly scratching her cheek.
Sitting back beside him, she lowered her head, staring at her pink-painted fingertips as if trying to shrink her presence into invisibility, hiding herself within the clubroom.
Yet, her hair bun still looked deflated, strands of pink hair hanging down, concealing her lips, which she couldn't stop biting.
"...You know why I was so worked up."
A lonely cry wandered through the silent valley.
For three years now, no answer had ever returned.